Press for salt blocks and the like



H. D. OXLEY.

PRESS FOR SALT BLOCKS AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30,1919.

Patented 131K213, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- I II I II T I q I' Ti WWII IIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIHH I y L If I H. D. OXLEY. PRESS FOR SALT BLOCKS AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30,1919.

1,336,579, Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

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2 SHEETSSHEET 2- Herberb HERBERT D.- OXLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOI PRESS FOR SALT BLOCKS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Extent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Application filed July 30, 1919. Serial No. 314,319.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERBERT D. OXLEY, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presses for Salt Blocks and the like; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to methods and means for compressing materials into blocks, its general objects including the providing of effective means for increasing the capacity of a press and for eflectively handling blocks formed of materials likely to indent the mold bottoms. In one aspect, my invention aims to provide a series of molds adapted to be used successively in the compressing of materials therein and for the ejecting of materials from the same; to utilize the compressingplunger of the press for loosening the compressed block from the mold; to provide simple means for holding the compressed block in a loosened position, and to provide for the convenient later ejection of the block. Viewed in this aspect, my invention also aims to provide simple means for simultaneously affording a tight bottom closure for one mold and loosening the closure for another mold; also to provide a common mounting for two such pairs of molds and to provide power-a tuated means for moving the closure-tightening means. Furthermore, my lnvention aims to provide simple means for relieving the pressure on the closure-tightening means so that the latter can readily be retracted when desired.

In another aspect, my invention aims to provide simple means for utilizing separable bottoming plates as effective mold bottoms, to provide access to the molds for inserting the bottom plates, to provide simple and effective means for holding the bottoming plates tightly in position. to provide effective means for retracting the said holding means, to provide means for supporting the bottoming plates after the material compressed within the mold has been partly ejected from the latter, and to provide simple means for relieving the pressure of the bottoming plate on the holding means while retracting the latter. 7 Furthermore, my invention aims to provide simple means for altering effective height of each mold, so that the same mold may be used for molding blocks of varying heights without altering the adjustment of the plungeroperating mechanism. Still further objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a fragmentary elevation of a punch press equipped with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the same, taken along the line 22 of F 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2. i

4 is a plan view of the left hand mold of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the molds, showing an illustrative method of tilting; the mold to facilitate the insertion of the removable bottom plate and the retracting of the bottom-holding slide.

Fig. 6 is a central and vertical section through one of the molds, showing the bot-- toming member used for molding a block of smaller height than that shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the two slides as used on the table of Figs. 2 and 3.

In the illustrated embodiment, mv invention is shown as applied to a punch press having a vertical plunger 1 disposed cen trally over the bed 2 of the press. Rotatablv mounted on the bed 2 upon an axis near one edge of the latter is a table 3 which has a portion overhanging the said edge of the table. Mounted on this ta le 3 are a plurality of tubular molds 4 which are all counterparts of each other and which are symmethcally spaced about the aXis of ti e table. Each of these molds desirably has a bore chamfered at its upper end to a cylindrical guide portion and thereafter flaring gradually toward the lower end of the mold, and each mold also has its lower end grooved in a direction radial of the table 3 to space the operative portion of the mold from the top of the table and to permit the insertion of a slide as hereafter described. This table has suitable means for normally holding the molds in predetermined positions, as for example hinges 5, and the table has vertical bores 7 larger in diameter than the lower end of the bores of the molds and in axial alinement with the respective molds.

Slidably mounted on the table 3 are a pair of slides or thrust members 8 and 9, one of which members is arched over the other as shown in Fig. 7 so that the two slides may be slid transversely of each other without interference. Moreover, each of these thrust members desirably has at each end an inclined wedge corresponding in slope to an incline on the table, so that when the slide is moved in either direction, the incline at the end toward which it is moved will cooperate with the corresponding incline on the table in tending to raise that end of the slide. Next, I provide removable bottoms 10 for the molds, each of which desirably is of greater thickness than the normal distance between the bottom of the mold proper and the top of the slide or thrust member when the latter is slid under the mold as shown in Fig. 3. To allow for inserting such a bottom, I preferably provide means for raising each mold and desirably for tilt ing the top of the mold toward the center of the table, as shown in Fig. 5. For example, the table 2 may carry risers 11 forming pivots for straps 12 carrying an eccentric 18 which eccentric continuously bears against the surface of the mold which is radially outward of the table. By depressing a handle 14- upon the eccentric 13, as shown in Fig. 5, the mold can be tilted toward the risers 11, thereby raising its lower end sufficiently to permit the ready insertion of a bottoming plate over the slide.

I also desirably provide power-actuated means formoving each slide, as for example a flat-tipped plunger 15 actuated from a hydraulic cylinder 16. Then I equip the radial edge portion of the table at each mold with removable means adapted to extend transversely of each bore 7, as for example with a spring pressed pin 26.

Thus arranged, my invention is particularly suited for molding materials which require high pressure and which are apt to indent the bottoms of the molds, as for example common salt. In forming salt into blocks, it is essential that the same should be dry, so as to avoid a subsequent cracking of the blocks, and the enormous pressure required for molding the salt into a solid block makes it diffcult to'slide a bottoming plate from under the mold. Consequently, it would not be feasible to use a slide as the direct bottom for the tubular mold in which the salt is compacted, and to count on withdrawing this slide while the salt is in the mold.

Instead, I first move the corresponding slide (such as the slide 9 of Fig. 3) into the operative position in which its left hand end closes the bore 7 of the left-hand mold and rests on the adjacent slope of the table,

this being done while the plunger of the press is raised. Then I tilt the adjacent mold 1 momentarily while inserting a bottoming plate 10, and drop the mold back to its normal position, so that the plate 10 is tightly clamped by the weight of the mold between the lower end of the latter and the slide 9. Then I rotate the table 2 a quarter turn, pour the proper quantity of salt 17 into the mold while in the middle position of Fig. 3, then rotate the table another quarter turn (or to the right-hand position of Fig. 3) and lower the plunger 1 of the press to eifect the desired compression.

After completing this compression, I raise the plunger out of the way and force the slide 9 to the left or clear'of the bore 7 by means of the hydraulic plunger 15. This leaves the molded block 17 wedged in the mold, with the bottom plate 10 sticking to it, and with the pin 16 projecting partly across the bore 7 under this bottoming plate. I then lower the plunger 1 of the press again and somewhat further than before, so as to loosen the block of salt from the mold and to drop the block until the plate 10 strikes the pin 16. This pin then acts as a temporary support for the block together with the bottom plate, while the table 3 is rotated a half-turn or into a position in which the bore 7 clears the edge of the table. Having reached this latter position (which corresponds to the left-hand position in Fig. 3) I then retract the spring-pressed pin 16 momentarily, thereby permitting the plate 10 and the block 17 supported thereby to be ejected as shown at thelower left-hand corner of Fig. 3, after which the block of salt can be turned over and the plate 10 can readily be detached from the same. To facilitate the retracting of the slide 9 after the block has been molded, and to overcome undue friction between the plate 10 and the top of the slide 9, I may also use the moldlifting means (here shown as including an eccentric 13) for momentarily tilting the mold.

While a block is being compressed in one mold, as shown at the right hand side of ported block is ejected from the diametrically opposite mold as shown in the same figure. Consequently, with two molds on the table and a single slide arranged for having its ends alternately disposed opposite the plunger 15, I can practically double the capacity of a single plunger press. Likewise, by mounting four molds on'the table and using two relatively transverse slides, I can obtain a proportionate further increase in the capacity while only requiring two men to operate the press. However, while I have illustrated and described my invention as used in connection with salt, I do not wish to be limited to this particular purpose. Neither do I wish to be limited to the use of a four-mold equipment, nor to the eccentric tilting means, nor to other details of Fig. 3, the finished and temporarily supthe construction and arrangement here disclosed, it being obvious that the same might be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of the appended claims. F or example, instead of employing a flat bottoming plate 10, I may employ a pair of plates connected by pillars as shown in Fig. 6, thereby enabling me to use the same mold with the same plunger adjustment for molding a much shorter block.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a press, a table and a mold carried thereby, the table and mold having alined perforations, a removable. bottom for the mold inserted between the latter and the mold, and means for forcing the bottom toward the mold.

2. In a press, a table, a mold carried thereby and raised above the table, the table and mold having alined perforations, a bottoming member for the mold, a slide carried by the table and adapted when in one position to force the bottoming member upward against the mold.

3. Mechanism as per claim 2, in combination with retractable means for moving the slide out of its said position.

1. Mechanism as per claim 1, in which the perforation in the table is larger than the removable bottom; in combination with means upon the table for supporting the bottom in a lowered position.

5. Mechanism as per claim 1, in which the perforation in the table is larger than the removable bottom; in combination with means upon the table for supporting the bottom within the perforation in the table.

6. In a press, a table having a perforation therein, a tubular mold having its bore alined with the perforation but smaller in area than the latter, a removable member forming a bottom for the mold and smaller in size than the said perforation, and means for holding the plate in its said bottoming position.

7. In a press, a table having a perforation therein, a tubular mold having its bore alined with the perforation but smaller in area than the latter, a removable member forming a bottom for the mold and smaller in size than the said perforation, and re tractable means interposed between the table and the plate for holding the plate in its bottoming position.

8. Mechanism as per claim 6, in which the said means include a member of larger crosssection than the said perforation and bearing on the table outside of the perforation.

9. Mechanism as per claim 6, in combination with means for moving the mold away from the table to permit the ready insertion of the removable bottoming member.

10. Mechanism arranged as per claim 6, with the mold tiltable with respect to the table to permit the ready insertion of the bottoming member.

11. Mechanism arranged as per claim 6, with the mold tiltable with respect to the table to permit the insertion of the bottoming member, in combination with means for tilting the mold.

12. In a press, a plunger, a rotatable table having a pair of diametrically opposite perforations each adapted to aline with the plunger, a pair of tubular molds carried by the table and respectively alining with the said perforations, a pair of removable bottoming members for the molds; and means for simultaneously forcing one of the said members into its bottoming position and releasing the other of the said members from such position.

13. Mechanism as per claim 12, in which the said means comprise a slide movable transversely of the axis of the table.

14;. hIechanism as per claim 12, in combination with a support upon which the table is rotatable, the table being so mounted as to project beyond the support in a direction radially opposite the plunger of the press. a

15. In a press, a plunger, a rotatable table having its axis parallel to but spaced from the axis of the plunger, four equivalent tubular molds carried by the table and spaced equidistantly about the axis of the table and each adapted to aline with the plunger of the press, each mold having its lower end raised above the table; and two relatively transverse slides carried by the table and extending radially thereof, each slide having end portions adapted to aline with one or the other of two of the molds according as the slide is in one or the other of two operative positions, one of the slides having an arched medial portion clearing the other slide.

Signed at Chicago, July 28th, 1919.

HERBERT D. OXLEY. 

